Where to go mountain biking in London

With the new Canzo by VooDoo bikes sat in my lounge, mud free and annoying my housemate I believe it’s time to take it out for some rides around London.

So what mountain bike options are available for those of us who want to go mountain biking in London?

Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but there isn’t a forest in the centre of London hidden behind Big Ben. (I checked). So unfortunately, mountain biking in London means heading slightly further out. However, thanks to the rather good (at times) train system this isn’t too difficult.

Take for example our first London mountain bike route..

Epping Forest

Epping Forest is cross country riding at its finest. Fortunately, it isn’t too far from the center of London. You either ride there or get the train to Chingford. The forest is fairly muddy all year round so it is challenging at times but can keep you occupied for a good 2-4 hours depending on how much exploring you are doing. It is also possible to rent mountain bikes nearby.

Epsom Downs

Taking the train over to Epsom, which is still inside the M25 ring is worth it for all the forests in the area. You can head through the Epsom Downs race track and then around the forests in the area which include Nower Wood, Jubilee Wood and Epsom Common. The trails here require some sussing out but riding around here on a mountain bike is great fun.

I’ve had a particularly entertaining fall on a mountain bike here where I ended up covered in mud. The train ride back was very funny with everyone staring at me wondering why on earth I was so covered in mud.

Hainault Forest

Another forest trail not so far from Epping Forest is Hainault. I’ve yet to ride here so I can’t share much more info on it. However, there is a route I found by the North Bristol Mountain Bike Club that I plan on trying out very soon.

The Chilterns

When I was having a chat with the team from Halfords, I asked about their favourite mountain biking destinations. When they talked about The Chilterns they had that look on their face that said “I wish I was there now”. For us Londoners this does mean a train ride out of London and the confines of the M25 ring.

Tring is one of the nearest stations in the area which can be reached from Euston. From there its a short ride to an area filled with mountain bike trails including jumps and cross country.

An example of one of the trails available is the Aston Hill Mountain Biking Area. This costs £5 to ride on the weekends. More information is available on the website. For more information on mountain biking in the Chilterns this site has been really useful.

Swinley

Just 40 miles out of London is Swinley Forest. The best way to get there is by train to Bracknell. The area is rideable all year round and there’s even a dedicated MTB area. For guided rides around here the Berks On Bikes MTB club is a good destination. Intro rides are open to non-members but must be booked in advance. You do need a permit to ride here but it only costs £1 a day which can be purchased from the Lookout. This helps maintain the area.

The area was voted one of the best mountain bike trails in the UK by Mountain Biking UK (pdf on area).

Mountain biking here we come..

I’ll be trying out plenty of mountain bike routes near London on the Voodoo Canzo in the coming months and report back on my findings. In the mean time please do leave any suggested rides in the comments below.

Get a train out to Dorking and ride the Surrey Hills. Head for Leith Hill tower, then hop over Holmbury Hill to Peaslake. Maybe take in Pitch hill and Ranmore Common if you have the legs. Its very popular with London based MTBers!

The Dorking area is great for varied MTB routes and very pretty, but if you want pure flowing singletrack and aren’t going to spend too much time looking around then Swinley is definitely the place to go.

Second North downs from the comments – and glad to see Swinley and Chilterns in the original list. But I’ve got to call you on two east London points:

1. Epping Forest: “The forest is fairly muddy all year round so it is challenging at times but can keep you occupied for a good 2-4 hours” It’s not massively muddy right now (but, yes, in winter it’s horrific – like the Chilterns, it’s based on clay soil). Yes, there are some puddles and muddy routes, but by no means is it a quagmire. It’s also good for way more than 4 hours. You can easily lose a day in the forest. And I’ve been riding here over 10 years and am still finding new stuff. I’d also add that Epping is in London – unlike every other idea mentioned – it’s way easier to get to. And you can ride anywhere in it (aside from the SSSIs – two iron age hill forts, a brook and Wanstead Park). So as well as the broad mellow bridleways, there’s a huge network of hundreds of singletrack trails – ranging from classic cross-country to jumps and downhill gnarliness.

2. Hainault Forest – how can you list that and then miss out on the closer in and fairly nearby Redbridge Cycle Centre. As well as a road course, the centre is home to mountain biking trails ideal for practising on. And is home to the infamous Beastway – proper mountain bike races in London. http://www.redbridgecyclingcentre.co.uk/http://www.beastway.com/

Another + point about Epping forest is that it’s reachable by tube with a bike, you can get on the Central Line at Stratford (or do a sneaky swap from the district to the Central at Mile end) and then head to Either Leytonstone and start at Hollow Ponds or go right out to Epping and ride back.

You can also camp fairly cheaply at Debden House if you want to make a weekend or longer break out of it – bikes for hire here too. If you live in West London, the Chilterns are easy to get to – more bridleways than forests but some good hills!

Surrey Hills has some excellent x-country trails and also some really good singletracks. Summer Lightning is the classic route off Leith Hill. The guys at Nirvana Cycles in Westcott or Head for the Hills in Dorking are super-helpful and a mine of information on local routes, or check out http://www.surreyhillsmountainbikeguides.co.uk

Epping Forest is fine on a Hybrid with the right tyre tread. After a dry spell it is very easy to ride with “city” tyre’s almost anywhere in the forest but after rain (and horses pugging it up!) even with full on knobblies it can be one of the hardest (energy sapping) rides!

Epsom Downs again is easily ridden on hybrid or MTB with ‘city” tyre’s after a dry spell. The Chalk area drains well but there are areas of clay (which Andreas found!) . The chalk itself can be slippery when wet.

Leith Hill (can you call this London?!) has different geology (in the main sandstone) so is also well drained but can be too loose in places after a dry spell. Obviously this is a generalisation and there are also muddy patches.

I have some GPS MTB routes around the Dorking area (covering Epsom Downs/Box Hill/Leith Hill/Newlands Corner ) if anyone wants them?

Please if you do come down from London don’t blast passed horses and walkers. Us locals have to bear the brunt of angry people who have been on the wrong end of aggressive/selfish behavior! Smile and say Hello to everyone you pass. Costs nothing but is invaluable weapon against path closures and access issues. Even the stoniest faced Rohan wearing walker has been known to crack a smile back!

I’d also echo Marc Davison, the yahoo group london_mtb got me hooked up with some good guys who do rides fairly regularly at weekends. We tend to start at Boxhill station which has fairly regular trains from London and head over Ranmore to Peaslake and then one or more of the Holmbury, Pitch, or Leith hills.

I typically do either the North Downs around Dorking or Swinley.

I’d be interested in your routes Jules, I haven’t touched Newlands Corner much, and I’d agree, a chirpy good morning is well appreciated by most people.

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